The Political Chase

Clinton Campaign Manager Is Out

Final straw after Obama routed Clinton yesterday in Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana, and the Virgin Islands?

From the NYT:

Patti Solis Doyle has stepped down as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign manager, the campaign announced on Sunday.

She will be replaced by Maggie Williams, a senior adviser to the campaign.

Ms. Solis Doyle will stay on as a senior adviser and “will continue to be a key part of the campaign,” said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman.

“It’s not a shakeup,” he said. “It will be a seamless transition. She and Maggie are longtime friends and they have been working closely together for the last month.”

In an e-mail message sent to campaign staff on Sunday afternoon, Ms. Solis Doyle announced that she would step down from the post.

“This has already been the longest presidential campaign in the history of our nation, and one that has required enormous sacrifices from all of us and our families,” she wrote. “During the last month I have been working closely with my longtime friend, Maggie Williams. This week Maggie will begin to assume the duties of campaign manager. I will serve as a senior adviser to Hillary and the campaign and travel with Hillary from time to time on the road.”

Ms. Williams is a longtime friend and adviser to Mrs. Clinton, but her role as senior adviser to the campaign was only made formal in the last month.

Mrs. Clinton released a statement on Sunday afternoon, saying that Ms. Solis Doyle “has done an extraordinary job in getting us to this point.”

“I am enormously grateful for her friendship and her outstanding work,” she wrote. “And, as Patti has said, this already has been the longest presidential campaign in history and one that has required enormous sacrifices of everyone and our families. I look forward to her continued advice in the months ahead.”

The Clinton campaign suffered a weekend of defeats in nominating contests in Washington State, Nebraska and Louisiana. For days, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers have said that she may not win a single nominating contest in February.

Clinton Campaign Manager Is Out - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

For John Edwards Supporters

This is a video put together by some of John Edwards core campaign workers and posted by JCNCNY at Edwards’ site.

I was an Edwards’ campaign volunteer and it certainly brought a few emotions to the surface. For those that have ever worked on a campaign because they believed, you’ll easily understand why.

Obama, Huckabee Big Winners

Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee were the big winners in yesterday’s Super Saturday presidential primary.

From the NYT:

Senator Barack Obama won decisive victories over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska on Saturday, giving him an impressive sweep going into a month when the Democratic nominating contests are expected to favor him.

The successes come just as Mr. Obama is building a strong advantage over Mrs. Clinton in raising money, providing important fuel for the nominating contests ahead. Still, the results were expected to do little to settle the muddle in the delegate race that resulted after the wave of contests last Tuesday in which the two candidates split up states from coast to coast.

In Republican contests on Saturday, Mike Huckabee won in Kansas, an embarrassing setback for Senator John McCain as he tries to rally the party around him as the nominee. The candidates were battling in Louisiana and Washington, where the results were too close to call. The Associated Press called the Louisiana race for Mr. Huckabee and the Washington race for Mr. McCain.

While Mr. Obama had been expected to win the contests on Saturday, the margin of victories were surprising, particularly in Nebraska and Washington, which offered the day’s biggest trove of delegates. In both states, he captured 68 percent of the vote in caucuses, compared with Mrs. Clinton’s roughly 32 percent.